The Franklin County Solid Waste Management District runs free battery
recycling and disposal programs. Most batteries should not be put in the
trash.Free recycling and disposal is
available at all Franklin County Solid Waste District transfer stations and,
for those towns that don’t have a transfer station, at town hall. Give
batteries to the transfer station attendant or place them in the special
battery recycling boxes at town hall. There are many different types of
batteries and some contain mercury and other heavy metals. Batteries can
release mercury, cadmium or other heavy metals into the air and water,
ultimately entering the food chain and posing health threats to people and the
environment. Please read below for
disposal instructions for specific battery types.

Rechargeable
batteries are found in those electronicsand appliancesthat
can be recharged, such asipods;cell phones; cordless phones; laptop computers; power tools; some
toys; some digital cameras; and rechargeable toothbrushes, razors, flashlights,
and handheld vacuum cleaners. In addition, rechargeable batteries that can be
recharged with a battery recharger should also be recycled. Cell phones should also be recycled in this
manner. Rechargeable batteries and cell phones contain heavy metals and should
never be thrown away; they should always be recycled. District transfer
stations and town halls have a special “Call 2 Recycle” box for rechargeable
batteries and cell phones. The specific batteries accepted in these boxes are:
Nickel-cadmium (Ni-cad), Nickel Metal
Hydride (Ni-MH), Nickel Zinc
(Ni-Zn), Lithium Ion batteries
(Li-ion), and Small Sealed Lead
(Pb). These abbreviations are printed
on rechargeable batteries. The boxes for free rechargeable battery recycling
are also available at Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Radio Shack.

Alkaline batteries are the
most common household batteries. They are available in many sizes and shapes
such as AAA, AA, C, D and 9 volt. Alkaline batteries manufactured since 1994 do
not contain mercury or other hazardous materials. District residents should
bring alkaline batteries to their town’s transfer station and give them to the
attendant. Residents of Erving, Gill,
Hawley, New Salem, Orange, Rowe, Warwick, and Wendell can put alkaline batteries into their
trash, since it goes to the landfill and not a trash incinerator. All batteries
should be checked carefully before disposal, as some non-alkaline batteries
resemble alkalines.

If you would like to cut down on
the number of alkaline batteries you are using, you could purchase an
inexpensive battery charger and some compatible rechargeable batteries. These
batteries can be used and recharged over and over again, but remember to
recycle them in a battery box when they cannot be charged anymore.

Carbon Zinc and Zinc Chloridebatteriesmay be disposed of in the same manner as alkaline
batteries; see above.

Lithium
batteries are used many applications but most often in cameras. The word
“lithium” is printed on the battery. Be sure to check all batteries; some
lithium batteries, such as the AA size or short and fat lithium batteries used
in cameras, resemble alkaline batteries, but should be recycled properly with
button batteries. See below.

Lithium-ion
batteries are different from Lithium batteries, and must be disposed of
differently. See info under "Rechargeable batteries" above.

Button batteries are the
small round silver batteries found in watches, clocks, calculators, hearing
aids, toys, remote car locks, flameless “flicker candles,” electric fence dog
collars, singing greeting cards and singing balloons. Many button batteries
contain mercury; therefore, button batteries must be disposed of properly.Give button and lithium batteries
to your town’s transfer station attendant or, if your town doesn’t have a
transfer station, place in the collection can at town hall.

Lead Acid batteries from cars, trucks, golf carts, motorcycles,
etc. must be recycled by law and recycling programs, some for cash or credit
back, are available at auto supply stores, local scrap metal recyclers, and at
some transfer stations. Lead acid batteries are also accepted at household
hazardous waste collections.